Burnley vs Brentford (Saturday 16 March, 3pm)
After surrendering a two-goal lead in their 2-2 draw at West Ham in their previous fixture, Burnley may have finally sealed their fate and condemned themselves to relegation from the Premier League.
The Clarets remain 19th in the English top flight and sit 10 points behind Nottingham Forest – and away from safety.
However, their upcoming opponents Brentford are also going through a torrid time, failing to win all of their last five league matches – and losing four of them.
Therefore, Vincent Kompany will be praying the Turf Moor crowd help his men over the line and give the club a glimmer of hope that they’ll be competing in Europe’s elite division next campaign.
Middlesbrough vs Blackburn Rovers (Saturday 16 March, 3pm)
Blackburn travel to an in-form Middlesbrough, searching for three points in
their quest for Championship survival.
Rovers have drawn five of their last seven in the league, losing the other two, and their dreadful form means they’re only three points above Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday, who are currently occupying two of the three relegation spots.
Boro are entering the game following wins over Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City.
Michael Carrick’s side are just five points adrift of the playoffs. There’s a lot at stake in this one.
Derby County vs Bolton Wanderers (Saturday 16 March, 3pm)
Third-placed Bolton continue their promotion push against second-placed Derby, whom they sit just one point behind.
A win for Wanderers would see them move into an automatic promotion spot and drop Derby into the play-off mix.
Ian Evatt has led his team on a run of four consecutive games unbeaten, including an impressive 5-0 thrashing of Oxford United.
Derby have brushed aside Port Vale, Bristol Rovers and Reading in their last three encounters as they chase table-toppers Portsmouth.
When the two met back in September at Toughsheet Community Stadium, the Trotters came from behind to claim all three points.
Wigan Athletic vs Blackpool (Saturday 16 March, 3pm)
This all-North West clash is set to be a good one.
Wigan have picked up huge victories over high-flying Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United in recent weeks and if it wasn’t for the points deduction that saw them start the season in the minus column, they may have been contending for promotion.
Blackpool, however, are contending for promotion. They held out league leaders Portsmouth in their at Bloomfield Road before claiming a what could be a seismic win on the road against Northampton Town in their previous two games.
A 94th -minute winner from Kenneth Dougall handed the Tangerines the bragging rights over The Latics earlier in the season.
What North West team is coming out on top?
Wigan Athletic
Blackpool
Salford City vs Morecambe (Sunday 17 March, 2pm)
Another all-North West face-off but this time the contestants have two very different aims in mind. With Colchester United having the advantage of two games in hand over Salford – albeit being eight points behind – the Ammies are creeping towards the League Two drop.
Three of their last four battles have seen Mansfield Town, Gillingham and MK Dons sweep them aside fairly comfortably.
Next, they meet a Morecambe outfit, who despite suffering defeats in their previous two games, remain well-seated in the promotion hunt, finding themselves just three points away from the play-offs with a game to spare.
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